Ruff Road Review
My Happy Place- San Isabel
San Isabel Lake is a beautiful blue lake a few miles off of Interstate 25 south of Pueblo, Colorado. It’s been the location of many trips while in Colorado, but I never had the opportunity to camp there. That is not until this year. This year, I finally enjoyed a San Isabel Lake camping trip at the La Vista Campground. No, we didn’t take Ruff Road this time. Gary stayed back at Ruff Road and took care of all the animals while I went camping with family. Bonus for me, I got to sleep in a tent. As a backpacker, I love sleeping in a tent! We also had a pop-up camper so we did have some conveniences, which was nice when it rained.
La Vista Campground, one of San Isabel’s campgrounds, offers primitive tent camping (walk in sites) and electric RV sites. Water is available but you need to have your own on board water or bring water jugs. There are many vault toilets and trash bins- clean!
Our Class A Would Fit Here!
We had a great time and this trip allowed me to see the campsites firsthand. In the future, we would like to take Ruff Road. However, until now we were unsure if the sites could accommodate our rig. It is in a mountainous area and we are still newbies at RVing in the mountains. After walking around the La Vista campground and seeing all of the rigs there, I know we won’t have any problem. We were considering the St. Charles primitive camping area, however after checking that out I know that it wouldn’t work for us. Also, I share a peek at the Southside Campground in the video which is primitive as well.
Serene Setting
The pictures of San Isabel Lake are stunning. It is surrounded by mountains, wildflowers, evergreens, and aspens. A clear running, rocky creek with large boulders runs into the lake. In addition, there are birds, deer, and other wildlife in the area. Indeed, it is a serene setting for camping.
Things to do
You can enjoy a peaceful walk around the lake. You could go all the way around but you’d need to walk along the highway for a short while. There are paths throughout the picnic area and trails nearby. However, there is much to do here besides taking a stroll.
You can…
Hike
Bike
Fish
Picnic
Kayak, canoe, paddleboard (non-motorized boats only)
Rent a paddle boat or row boat (from the Lodge at San Isabel)
Wildlife viewing
ATV Trail
Camp
Visit The Lodge at San Isabel for a tasty meal, pick up camping groceries, yummy fudge, or a gift. You can even rent a cabin here.
Visiting San Isabel- More Information
If you are interested in camping at San Isabel Lake campgrounds or just visiting it for the day, it’s an easy drive there just 42 miles south of Pueblo, Colorado off of I25, 87 miles south of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The drive is easy graded from I25 as you drive up to San Isabel on Colorado State Highway 165 for the final 18 miles of the trip.
You can reserve a campsite at Recreation.gov.
They do have walk-up campsites, which are reserved for first-come, first-serve campers. I hope this helps you if you are ever traveling the I25 corridor in Colorado and are looking for a great place to camp or visit for the day. The campgrounds are open seasonally and dates vary by year and according to the weather. In general, the timeline is mid May to mid September. The recreation area can be visited year round but you can expect there to be snow and the lake will ice over in the winter.
Online Resources
Check out our Ruff Road Review of San Isabel on our You Tube channel, Ruff Road RV Life at this site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R2iTb32kuc
You can read about our story on this site. https://ruffroadrvlife.com/about-us/
You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Ruff-Road-RV-Life-775489835979588/
http:// https://www.instagram.com/ruff_road_rv_life/
I really “liked looking at freedom” from our campsite at San Isabel!
See you on the road!